Adamites
Was Adam a Giant?
A sunni sahih (authentic) Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah states that Adam was created 60 cubits tall (about 30 meters), and that people in Paradise will look like Adam. The height of humans has since decreased. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah created Adam in His picture, sixty cubits (about 30 meters) in height.
The book that first proposed a pre-Adamite theory, and that inspired Duncan, was Prae-Adamitae (1655), by the French renegade theologian, Isaac de La Peyrère. We have that work as well in our History of Science Collection. Someday, when we are able to determine a birth date, death date, or other significant date for La Peyrère, he will get a well-deserved Scientist-of-the-Day post of his own.
Dr. William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor emeritus, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.